This week’s business pages have been dominated by revelations of which retailers did well over Christmas and which did not. Here are a few headlines to whet your appetite.

According to new research undertaken by the Bar Council, government legal panels are “disproportionately White”. 

As the country emerges from Storm Imogen to find itself bathed in glorious sunshine, the day feels full of possibility – why not harness that energy to improve your understanding of the commercial world? 

In the most recent episode of The LawCareers.Net Podcast, the LawCareers.Net team speaks to legal professional Bunmi Jenfa about a range of topics, including imposter syndrome, Shein lawsuits, career pivots and the importance of finding your ‘why’ when pursuing a legal career.

The legal industry is bearing witness to a string of mergers taking place this winter as law firms expand their strength and reach ahead of the new year.

Law firm Shoosmiths is set to give staff access to an extra £1 million bonus pot four months ahead of schedule, after hitting its annual target for Microsoft Copilot prompts early.

Desperately needed new domestic abuse legislation is to be dropped for the second time when Parliament is dissolved this week.

US firm Latham & Watkins and global giant Baker & McKenzie have been rated by students as the two best vacation scheme providers in the Legal Week Intelligence 2011 Law Student Report.

Paralegal work’s reputation for being a dead end to career advancement may soon be put to bed, as plans to implement formal qualifications and training opportunities for an advanced paralegal apprenticeship accelerate.

The Bar Council recently ran a week of events for sixth form students, designed to promote better access to the profession.

Justice Secretary Robert Buckland has contradicted suggestions from the top levels of the government that judges are politically biased and not truly independent.

Legal training provider BARBRI has revealed more details about its Solicitors Qualifying Exam preparation courses, including the fees that will be charged to students and the study options for each course.

The University of Law’s Employment Promise is now offered to its LLM Legal Practice and Business School students. The promise will see students receive 100% of their course fees back if they do not secure a job nine months after completing their course.

The final guidelines for prosecutions involving social media communications have been published by the director of public prosecutions, Keir Starmer QC.

Leading law firm A&O Shearman has retained 69% of its summer trainee cohort, with 37 out of the 54 trainees having accepted permanent positions.

Blackfriars Settlement is a community organisation designed to listen to community needs, promote equal access to education and opportunity, build trust through dedication, encourage involvement via trusteeship and employment, strengthen partnerships, create a welcoming hub and adapt services for impact.

Global law firm Latham & Watkins has surpassed $1 billion in revenue for the first time in London, marking a “record-breaking” year for the firm, according to its chair and managing partner Rich Trobman.

The Bar Standards Board has published its latest annual report summarising activities over 2017-18.

Another mixed bag of business news this week – some up, most down. Guess that’s to be expected in this time of unprecedented economic uncertainty. Even if you’re in the final throes of training contract application fever, read on for our hand-picked selection of stories.